Virtual Worlds 2008 - Mattel Keynote: Making it Safe and Moving to Subscription
Once it seemed that every toy that came out had to have a website. Now it seems that every toy will need to have a virtual world. Some are doing it better and some not so much. Mattel's BarbieGirls.com, though, is objectively a success, growing to 1 million registered users after 30 days and 3.5 million users after 90 days. Now it sits at over 11 million members. And, while Barbie as a brand often skews younger, 86% of BarbieGirls users are ages 8 and older. "We're really seeing virtual worlds as the new playground," Rosie O’Neill, Senior Brand Manager, Barbie Tech Mattel, Inc., said in Mattel's keynote address at Virtual Worlds 2008.
39% of moms think that websites are safe and secure. That means 2/3 don’t. 43% are neutral or dislike the fact that their tweens are online. However, only 38% of parents with young children use the parental controls available on websites. They’re not comfortable with online activity, but they’re equally uncomfortable going in to make it safer.
“That leads them to brands they trust,” said Charles Scothon, General Manager & SVP, Girls Mattel Brands Mattel, Inc.
Towards that end, Mattel is creating not only parental controls for BarbieGirls, but a parents section, making it simpler and more interactive to maintain safety in the virtual world.
“One of the interesting things we’ve found in our research is that safety is just as important to a girl as to parents,” said O’Neill. “In our survey, kids ranked safety number 2 in importance to a virtual world, second only to fun.”
Various options are targeted at empowerment, including blocking tools (to make people invisible), reporting tools to censure rulebreakers, and rejection methods custom built to be friendly and positive.
That still leaves fun and engagement. Mattel is developing an interactive tool to encourage parents and children to come to agreements about online behavior and usage. Instead of setting the rules of the company for all users, Mattel wants families to discuss the policies, formalize them, and follow through—all through the BarbieGirls world.
Where We're Going with This
"We fundamentally believe that virtual worlds are no different from CD-ROM games and are no different from toys," said Scothon. "It is a toy. It just doesn't come in plastic."
“We’re very pleased to announce that in May we’ll be taking BarbieGirls to a subscription model,” said Scothon.
Scothon didn't want to say that the company wouldn't ever move to microtransactions, but from internal research on parental attitudes, Mattel found that many moms view the model as a blank check--a similar attitude was found by FlowPlay for its subscription-based ouWorld.
The world will continue to have a free experience, but the VIP membership’s launch will give different options.
“When a girl becomes a VIP member, she’ll become a VIP herself and get the VIP treatment all throughout the world,” said O’Neill. “When we asked girls how you would know someone was special in BarbieGirls, they said, ‘Well, duh, she would be wearing a tiara.”
In addition to giving out tiaras, Mattel is adding massive amounts of new content. Based on user requests, one of the first additions is The Extreme Dream Park, a glitter-coated amusement park with multiplayer games and activities. Likewise, users are extremely excited about virtual pets. Mattle is developing a Swiss Family Robinson-style pet house, with additional games and content. The plan is to treat these just as a beginning, rolling out more and more content as the world progresses.
“We really believe this is about providing a great new play experience with a brand they love that doesn’t take away from the brand experience,” said Scothon.
Keep an eye out for my follow-up interview with Scothon and O'Neill about the move to subscription and away from selling MP3 players for premium access.
My daughters are 6,,9, and 11. They are all part of Club Penguin, Webkinz, Whyville, and tried Barbiedoo too! We went to a demo and testing for a new virtual site for kids called Zoopri.com. They told us that Zoopri will be launching in November or December of 2008. I can tell you right now, that this site is going to blow all of these away. They type of things they have thought of and the things they offer is incredible. My kids have begged me to ask them when they can play on it again and if they can go to Zoopri for another group focus testing. As a parent I would only let my kids play Zoopri when it comes out...we had to sign an NDA, but you will see why.
Posted by: Janice Park | April 30, 2008 at 11:35 PM
I have a couple girls too and they are both members of Webkinz. We don't know about the rest. They tried the BArbiedoll.com few days ago and they hated it. I thought that they would adore it, but they just didn't. ZOOPRI sounds interesting! What was so great about ZOOPRI? Can you give us any hints? If not, I understand.
Posted by: David C | April 30, 2008 at 11:54 PM
OMG Are you guys just stupid you will probaly loose costomers because for 6 months the cam get a year of webkinz so if i were you i would make it free or like 10 dollars a year or somthing
Posted by: Elizabeth | May 19, 2008 at 08:10 AM